Wanda Wasilewska

[[File:Delegacja w Ukraińskiej SRR.jpg|thumb|Wasilewska giving a speech in the Ukrainian SSR, 1948/49]]

[[File:Delegacja w Ukraińskiej SRR.jpg|thumb|Wasilewska giving a speech in the Ukrainian SSR, 1948/49]]

After the war, Wasilewska decided to stay in the Soviet Union and retired from public life, thus rejecting the opportunity for becoming an active member of the political elites in communist Poland. She was involved in a long-term relationship with [[Ukrainians|Ukrainian]] playwright and Soviet state official [[Oleksandr Korniychuk]], with whom she moved to [[Kiev]]. Wasilewska had limited [[Russian language|Russian]] and [[Ukrainian language]] abilities, but was a member of the Supreme Soviet for six terms. She often visited Poland, where a room was kept for her use at the villa of Broniewska in Warsaw. She was highly influential in the affairs of Poland and consulted by the country's top leaders, including Bierut and Berman. Especially before [[Polish October|Gomułka's ascent to power]] in 1956, Wasilewska's visits followed invitations from the authorities; afterwards they were less frequent and of a more private character. According to communist historian [[Andrzej Werblan]], Wasilewska and Gomułka were politically incompatible. She made frequent foreign trips as an activist in the peace movement, including one to [[Stockholm]] in 1956.

After the war, Wasilewska decided to stay in the Soviet Union and retired from public life, thus rejecting the opportunity for becoming an active member of the political elites in communist Poland. She was involved in a long-term relationship with [[Ukrainians|Ukrainian]] playwright and Soviet state official [[Oleksandr Korniychuk]], with whom she moved to [[Kiev]]. Wasilewska had limited [[Russian language|Russian]] and [[Ukrainian language]] abilities, but was a member of the Supreme Soviet for six terms. She often visited Poland, where a room was kept for her use at the villa of Broniewska in Warsaw. She was highly influential in the affairs of Poland and consulted by the country's top leaders, including Bierut and Berman. Especially before [[Polish October|Gomułka's ascent to power]] in 1956, Wasilewska's visits followed invitations from the authorities; afterwards they were less frequent and of a more private character. According to communist historian [[Andrzej Werblan]], Wasilewska and Gomułka were politically incompatible. She made frequent foreign trips as an activist in the peace movement, including one to [[Stockholm]] in 1956.

[[File:Ванда-Василевська.JPG|thumb|Grave of Wanda Wasilewska at the Baikove Cemetery]]

[[File:Ванда-Василевська.JPG|thumb|Grave of Wanda Wasilewska at the Baikove Cemetery]]

Wasilewska wrote to her friend [[Nikita Khrushchev]] to complain of the 1955 publication of ''Poemat dla dorosłych'' ('A Poem for Adults') by [[Adam Ważyk]], which she saw as one of the manifestations of the increasingly present in Poland anti-socialist agitation. However, after Khrushchev's assumption of the Soviet leadership and his reforms, she seemed primarily preoccupied with her family affairs and by the tending her grandson Peter in particular. She was often visited by family members and friends from Poland. Among other guests Wasilewska and Korniychuk entertained was the writer [[John Steinbeck]]. She spent time with her husband in their [[dacha]] not far from Kiev, but the relationship eventually deteriorated. She developed heart and circulatory problems.

Wasilewska wrote to her friend [[Nikita Khrushchev]] to complain of the 1955 publication of ''Poemat dla dorosłych'' ('A Poem for Adults') by [[Adam Ważyk]], which she saw as one of the manifestations of the increasingly present in Poland anti-socialist agitation. However, after Khrushchev's assumption of the Soviet leadership and his reforms, she seemed primarily preoccupied with her family affairs and by the tending her grandson Peter in particular. She was often visited by family members and friends from Poland. Among other guests Wasilewska and Korniychuk entertained was the writer [[John Steinbeck]]. She spent time with her husband in their [[dacha]] not far from Kiev, but the relationship eventually deteriorated. She developed heart and circulatory problems.